The other day I looked at a high school social studies textbook that had the U.S. Capitol on the cover. The sight of the Capitol dome made my eyes well with tears. I know that America was not actually founded on the ideals highlighted in the Declaration of Independence, but that is why they’re ideals. But now, as I observe, at the highest levels of government, attacks against the civil liberties of those who are most vulnerable, the sight of a supposed symbol of freedom disappoints me. But the scariest reality is that a lot of people support this push backward in the name of their own “protection” (or what they perceive as protection), even if that idea of “protection” comes at the expense of minority groups and those with the least historical privilege. It seems that these people want a return to the times when those like them felt the most “comfort” in their feelings of superiority.

I know it sounds like a losing battle to wish so much based on representation in a film, but movies aren’t just movies. They tell us who we are, and they inform who we are. And they can seep into our consciousness when we do not notice.

I love that I live in a world in which Moonlight exists. The emergence of Moonlight (2016, dir. Barry Jenkins, Academy Award® winner for Best Motion Picture of the Year [Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner]; Best Adapted Screenplay [Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney]; and Best Supporting Actor [Mahershala Ali]) has brought me hope during a discouraging time. That a film so unprecedented exists shows me an example of a place where progress has not stopped, and I hope the film’s success continues to educate, open minds, and support not only full equality but also a change in attitudes between ordinary citizens because we need more than “tolerance.” Just look around. Tolerance doesn’t last. We need evolved open-mindedness. We need education.

Then with Get Out (2017, writ. and dir. Jordan Peele), I again felt seen and listened to. If you are used to seeing yourself reflected in the media in truthful ways, you cannot understand the feeling, at a time when you need it the most, although that time is well overdue, of seeing two monumental achievements virtually back to back that speak to your experiences and reach both popular and critical acclaim. I feel like I can breathe a bit easier and walk with a bit more assurance. There is absolutely no doubt that these films have started conversations, but those conversations need to explore the right questions and actually reach the right people.

If you are someone who doesn’t automatically understand what I mean when I say that Moonlight and Get Out actually help me breathe with more ease, try to imagine how I felt when I saw Colossal and realized that it is a film that I had been waiting for and a film that we as a culture are starving for? On the surface, it appears to include a story that we see in most films—the tired love triangle involving a woman who thinks she has to choose between two men, one from her past and one from her present. Both men promise her a future of “happiness.” But what actually happens in Colossal is what men (in real life and in movies) take for granted. To enjoy, free of projected guilt, the freedom to choose one of two love interests, to choose one other than the two vying for your attention, not to choose one at all, or simply to make the decision on your OWN time and not adhere to an ultimatum forced on you is to be, historically, in the male position. And it is certainly a freedom overwhelmingly enjoyed by men in movies. Colossal (2017, writ. and dir. Nacho Vigalondo) gives us a satisfying view of a woman who does not take on the burden of taking care of a man who seeks her to cover up his faults or use her as a punching bag. Even if the men who want Gloria’s (Anne Hathaway) future were awesome people with no disturbing psychological hangups, that wouldn’t change the fact that we don’t deserve to give away our freedom of choice out of “obligation.” These “obligations” are disproportionately assigned to women to haul around.

As is true in reality, all three characters need saving. And—as in reality–people like to think that a relationship can “fix” them. A relationship entered into for that reason can’t be a healthy one. As Oprah always says—“Jerry Maguire was just a movie”—don’t look for someone to “complete” you. The choice Gloria makes is not a gimmick or a mere obstacle that will eventually bring us back to tired clichés we see all the time. It is an overdue call that I hope will help men wake up. Men who think they exist to validate women, or that their opinion matters more than women’s opinions, or that they can use the word “bitch” to “put a woman in her place” are, indeed, asleep. We cannot afford for them to stay asleep.

Despite so much that is wrong, I, someone who treasures the magic and power of movies, feel fortunate that we have these films that, taken together, separately, and in combinations, impart intersectional messages that we need—desperately.

Here goes. As indicated in my collage below, this has been a wonderful year. If you have not seen the movies I have placed in my top 10 list for 2016, run and go see them. Later I will be adding the other films I saw and indicating which ones come highly recommended (and which ones come just plain recommended). For now, see my top 10 and predictions.

Predictions . . .

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Will Win: Viola Davis, Fences
Should Win: Viola Davis

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Will Win: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Should Win: Mahershala Ali

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Will Most Likely Win: Emma Stone, La La Land
Should Win: Natalie Portman, Jackie

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Will Win: Denzel Washington, Fences
Should Win: Denzel Washington
Could Win: Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)My Top 3 (from the nominees)
1. SING
2. SILENT NIGHTS
3. TIMECODE
I recommend the other nominees, THE RAILROAD LADY and ENEMIES WITHIN

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)My Top 3 (from the nominees)
1. BORROWED TIME
2. PEAR CIDER AND CIGARETTES
3. PEARL

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILMTHE INNOCENTS and THINGS TO COME are in my top 10 list for the year. I did not see all five nominees, but I highly recommend AMAN CALLED OVE and THE SALESMAN. I recommend TONI ERDMANN. I also highly recommend (in random order) ELLE, THE WAIT (starring Juliette Binoche), THE HANDMAIDEN, MY GOLDEN DAYS, and A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS (written and directed by Natalie Portman). You’ll see these again when I update this post.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
I have not yet seen nominees O.J.: Made in America or Fire at Sea. I do, however, highly recommend (in random order) 13th(nominee), Maya Angelou and Still I Rise;Tickled; Life, Animated (nominee);Cameraperson;The First Monday in May;Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World; Unlocking the Cage; and I Am Not Your Negro (nominee). I recommendWeiner, The Last Man on the Moon, and The Witness.

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECTMy Top 3 (from the nominees)
1. THE WHITE HELMETS
2. 4.1 MILES
3. EXTREMIS
I highly recommend the other nominees, WATANI: MY HOMELAND and JOE’S VIOLIN

Be sure to check back for a list of recommendations including every feature film I saw for 2016. Enjoy the Oscars!

When events of uncaring disconnection (from fellow human beings, from history) happen—when people pull others into their pain, insecurities, and fear, as I believe is the case most of the time—the consequences turn into the greatest crises we see—terrorism, unjust laws and systematic practices, murder, genocide, everyday hatred, etc. It is hard for me to continue to believe in the “grieving process” or “human resilience.” And it makes me especially uncomfortable to hear people praise victims for their “dignity” and “grace” in handling injustice. People would not have to grieve or be resilient in these cases if we made our world better and did not waste our human potential—not our potential to build buildings or bridges or “win” a war—but our potential to treat each other humanely and with empathy and actually learn from history. But I guess a historian in a podcast I recently listened to was right—there is no such thing as learning from history. We learn the wrong things from history. But—still—I believe we can learn.

Sebastião Salgado spent decades depicting, in exquisite black-and-white photographs, horrific human events humans have perpetuated against other humans. He finally had to turn away from war, genocide, starvation, famine, and unspeakable horrors lived. After covering the Rwandan genocide, Salgado lost faith in humanity; his psyche was done. He says, “We are a ferocious animal. We humans are terrible animals. Our history is a history of wars. It’s an endless story, a tale of madness.” He’d reached the “maximum,” as he explains, because photography makes the photographer “part of the subject.” It was nature that rejuvenated him. He captures the beauty of the natural world (and how it does replenish itself) with the message that we must preserve it. This work became Genesis. In this interview with Benedikt Taschen, Taschen expresses that it is his hope that the book will “make a significant contribution to the awareness about the world we live in.”

The Salt of the Earth(2014 Academy Award® nominee, Best Documentary Feature, directed by Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado) shows us that that—contributing “awareness about the world we live in”—is exactly what Sebastião Salgado has always done. With his remarkable spirit as an economist turned photographer, he shows us the land, the water, and the human condition in intimate ways that should bring us closer to one another. I know it made me feel more connected. This stunning documentary reflects Salgado’s stunning life’s work.

I find myself looking over my shoulder, especially at work because I am often sitting with my back to the open door. Wild Tales(a 2014 Academy Award® nominee for Foreign Language Film) is a dark, satirical comedy from Argentina that will have you squirming in your seat as you witness the truth about humanity. I enjoyed this squirming because I attend movies in order to face reality, not to escape it, and human experience is more often than not (extremely) farcical. I (very) often find myself wishing that more people felt more liberated to act according to their true feelings and not simply “keep calm” because of the expectation that seems to dominate, which is that people can act ridiculously toward us, but we must not, through our reactions, show them just how ridiculous they are. With these reactions, we are encouraged to do what, in my mind, is the most dangerous action–withhold the truth. In order to stop encouraging disrespectful, uncritical, selfish behavior, we need to react truthfully more often–and sometimes that includes “flipping out.” After all, the perpetrators of ridiculousness have figured out that they can get away with their plentiful lack of decorum, or they are indignant when faced with consequences. That indignation is what causes me to look over my shoulder, hence the “Pasternak” (Dario Grandinetti, Maria Marull, Monica Villa) story. Wild Tales is an anthology film, and the stories are linked by theme, not by plot. “Pasternak” is the first and begins and ends before the opening credits.

Wild Tales (directed by Damián Szifron) is well done and extremely satisfying because it presents people who go through with those truthful reactions. Those reactions seem extreme (and are extreme), but if we did not bottle up our feelings so often, maybe those extremes would not be so prevalent–or maybe they still would be because people are awfully horrible to each other for all sorts of reasons. But every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so one better be prepared. Perhaps the worst part of facing someone that has greatly wronged you in the past (to the point of ruining your life and the life of your loved one) is finding out that the person has not changed at all and is as contemptible as before. Should all decency be thrown away in order to teach that person a lesson? (“Las ratas” – Rita Cortese, Julieta Zylberberg, César Bordón). You never know what a person is going through in his life when you justifiably throw away all decency in order to let him know he is acting inappropriately. The sheer stubbornness that exists in us cannot be underestimated when we desire to assert our superiority and prove that we will not allow another to have the last word. “El más fuerte” (Leonardo Sbaraglia, Walter Donado) takes this to a level that started my first fit of squirming (enjoyably) in the theater.

“Bombita” (Ricardo Darin, Nancy Dupláa) is yet another story of someone pushed over the edge who does not simply shake it off and deal with it. It is about how we all often feel when we go out during the day. No matter how much we try to avoid trouble, trouble always finds us, and our only hope rests in the lap of blind followers of the “system” who cannot or will not help us because they are simply focused on “doing their job” and not on justice or simple common sense. In “La propuesta” (Oscar Martínez, María Onetto, Osmar Núñez, Germán de Silva), a patriarch throws up his arms and refuses to take responsibility for his son’s mistakes and continue to deal with opportunists only out for his money. Though able to use money to buy his way out of problems, he realizes it is no longer worth it. He angrily retreats, and yes, he has to face indignation from all around. But, “Hasta que la muerte nos separe” (Érica Rivas, Diego Gentile) reminds us that sometimes if both parties fight it out (in public) until they are mentally (and physically) exhausted and everything is out on the table and out of their systems, they can, in fact, reconcile. And there is that theme again: getting out the truth works.

My Favorite Films of 2014

1. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)2. Boyhood3. Whiplash4. Gone Girl5. Selma6. The Theory of Everything7. The Immigrant8. Obvious ChildThe Case Against 8Life Itself9. Locke10. A Most Violent Year
11. The Grand Budapest Hotel
12. Listen Up Philip
13. The One I Love
14. Wild
15. American Sniper
Citizenfour
16. Ida
17. Bicycling with Molière
18. The Way He Looks
19. Into The Woods
20. My Old Lady21. Two Days, One Night22. Nightcrawler23. Belle24. Love is Strange25. Get On Up26. The Lunchbox27. The Fault in Our Stars28. The Imitation Game29. Lilting30. Foxcatcher31. Interstellar32. Annie33. Black or White34. The Lego Movie35. Still Alice36. The Homesman37. Big Eyes38. Enemy39. Words and Pictures40. The Face of Love41. Endless Love42. Rosewater43. Unbroken44. Frank vs. God45. Before I Go to Sleep